[gunther]

In my 120 gal tang tank, somehow within the last 90 days snails have invaded my tank.
At first I wasnt concerned I thought my Three calvus would take care of them. I was Wrong they have multiplied so much that my sand floor Is now a moving snail bed.
any Suggestions would be helpful. THANKS

 

[MidNightCowBoy]

Well its not very african lake specific but loaches will eat snails. Maybe get some yo yo or dojo loaches.

 

[24Tropheus]

So will all Julies and some Synos and Neolamprologus tretocephalus all eat snails when hungry and they have access (burrowing snails can escape em though)
but your infestation sounds out of control.

There are chemical snail killers on the market but I would remove the bulk of them manually (**** of a job but I think the only way) first.

Loads of dead snails from chems would cause a major pollution problem.

Petty no one has invented an additive that (I know of) just stops em breeding.

My understanding is that they live on organic stuff in the substrate, so regular cleaning of the substrate (manually or some fish (sand sifters if its sand) help with this to a limited extent) is the long term answer I think.

 

[JWerner2]

As sad as it is to say I believe the only way to get rid of them is a chemical treatment. Snails that are pesky ones like this can find all sorts of food so attempting to starve them off will barley dent the population. I also doubt any snail predators will get rid of all of them from what it sounds and it will only reduce a fraction of what will be reproducing.

I once had a snail problem that could not be stopped and adding more and more animals to feed on them didn't help reduce the population of snails but did put more stress on my bio filtration so in the end I took out what ever I had such as bio wheels, sponges,...etc,..etc, anything that helped harbor my bio filtration and added it all to another aged aquarium. Then after all that I zapped them with some snail treatment.

I did some big water changes using my DI machine and added some carbon back to my aquarium and after a week or two I put all the stuff I took out such as sponges and bio wheels,..etc,...etc back in. Still did some slight damage and things were slightly unstable for a few days ( maybe 2 ) but it got them all.

 

[Charlutz]

Are they long conical shaped snails? If so they are malaysian trumpet snails. Do a search for them or MTS for short. Most of the organic methods like loaches or smaller feedings won't work, at least in my experience. I removed the fish and dumped bleach in the tank. You have to do the filter media too (or boil it) as the young (they are livebearers) will live their entire lives inside a filter sponge.

 

[fish]

Yellow labs or clown loaches would love to get rid of them for you. Once the snails are gone you cane sell the fish. It's the only safe way I'm aware of.

edit: Or you can leave them in there, they help keep nitrates down.

 

[DJRansome]

I have pond snails and ramshorn snails in my smaller planted tank. I'm using the lettuce bait method with some success. I get 20 or more snails out daily doing this.

You put a lettuce leaf in the tank using a clip after lights out. Leave it for 2 hours and remove along with the snails. Repeat daily until snails are under control or gone.

I did research the loaches. The yo yo seemed to be the best fit for the pH of an African tank, but they were too large for my 36" tank. They like to be in groups of 5-6. Smaller than the clowns.

The loach that was a fit for my tank size was too timid to be a tankmate with Tangs.